Chennai
On Tuesday, Nishanth Nichu received a call at around 11.30 pm from a distressed man in Mudichur. Nishanth and his team extensively worked in the low-lying area during the previous floods and had given his mobile number to a few residents to call him in case of an emergency. “I have received four to five calls since this evening saying that they had got a message that the Chembarambakkam lake had been breached and there would be a flood again. When I asked him about the source of the information, he said a relative of his had read that on social media,” says Nishanth.
The scars of December floods have not healed for many in the city. The incessant rain for the past two days has reminded many about the disaster. “Most of them had just stated settling down and the rains have made them panic. I personally explained to them that there is no need to worry. And that if anything gets serious, it will be better managed this time.”
Certain news channels also reported that the National Disaster Response Force had been kept on standby. There were images of boats kept in Kotturpuram shared on social media. This only added to the confusion of many.
K Abdul Ghani, volunteer, said: “I have been getting calls from Velachery and Mudichur as people are seeing the water levels rise. Most of them being slum dwellers living near water bodies are scared about a flood situation emerging soon. The fact is that these areas are affected every time it rains with roads getting waterlogged. It’s just that. But they are worried that what happened in December shouldn’t recur. We understand their worries and have asked some volunteers to check on them.”
Talking about the messages and images being circulated on the social media, he said: “There are heavy floods and mudslide in Sri Lanka, images of which are being circulated online. People are passing those as flood images from the city, without verifying it.”
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